(Newser)
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Protesters clashed violently with security forces for the fifth straight day today, angrily rejecting the military’s promise to bump up its handover to civilian authorities to next July. Protesters swarmed around the infamous Interior Ministry building, in what they said was an attempt to pin down the police and army and prevent them from ousting protesters from Tahrir Square, the Wall Street Journal reports. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd to stop them from storming the building.

“As soon as daylight broke they started shooting, because they could see us,” one protester tells Reuters. At least 38 people have been killed since Saturday, one rights group said today, while the Health Ministry raised its total to 32. One doctor in a Tahrir Square field hospital told the AP that three more bodies arrived today—all with bullet wounds. He added, however, that the wounds may not be from live ammunition, but from close-range rubber bullet shots.

An Egyptian medic looks on as a wounded member of the Egyptian security forces lays in bed for treatment at a Tahrir Square field hospital in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abu Zaid)

Egyptian protesters carry away a man suffering from tear gas during clashes with riot police along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square, in Cairo on November 23, 2011. (Getty Images)

Egyptian protesters clashes with riot police along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square, in Cairo on November 23, 2011. (Getty Images)

An Egyptian protester covers a tear gas canister during clashes with riot police along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square, in Cairo on November 23, 2011. (Getty Images)

An Egyptian protester takes part in clashes with riot police along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square, in Cairo on November 23, 2011. (Getty Images)

Egyptian riot police stand behind their shields as the clash with protesters along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square, in Cairo on November 23, 2011. (Getty Images)

Egyptian protester run during clashes with riot police along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square, in Cairo on November 23, 2011. (Getty Images)

Egyptian protester throws a rock from behind a barrier during clashes with riot police along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square, in Cairo on November 23, 2011. (Getty Images)

These Egyptians fighting for thier freedom are some of the bravest individuals I have ever seen. Absolutely fearless in the face of state thuggery. Able to instantly mobilize hospitals, food, and defenses while meeting tanks and bullets w/ nothing more than rocks. Amazing what the yearning for freedom from oppression will do.

bewilderbeast

Nov 23, 2011 7:22 AM CST

If the military started PROTECTING its fellow citizens instead of KILLING them, they could believe they were genuine. But the average Egyptian knows that all they have achieved so far is to allow Mubarak's rivals to take over and continue his plunder and abuse. They have not yet liberated Egypt.